Medicine spoon



P 18, 1952 G. E. WYNER ETAL 3,054,184

MEDICINE SPOON Filed Oct. 27, 1960 INVENTORS Gerald E. Wyner BY MiATTORNEY United States Patent M 3,054,184 MEDICINE SPOON Gerald E. Wynerand Richard T. Lee, Dallas, Tern; said Lee assiguor to Jean-RuthProducts, Inc., Dallas, Tex.,

a corporation of Texas Filed Oct. 27, 1960, Ser. No. 65,474 2 Claims.(Cl. 30326) This invention is concerned with a spoon, and isparticularly concerned with a spoon for measuring and dispensing liquidmedicine.

Physicians have customarily prescribed a dosage of liquid medicine inteaspoonfuls or tablespoonfuls, and it has been the practice to measureand give such dosages to patients with ordinary teaspoons andtablespoons, which may be found in the home.

Common teaspoons and tablespoons includes a bowl with a rounded bottom,with a handle extending angularly upwardly from the bowl, so that whenthe spoon is set on a flat surface the bowl is tilted at an angle, andhas a tendency to rock from side to side on the rounded bottom.Therefore, it is impossible to measure a teaspoonful or tablespoonful ofmedicine in such spoons as they are lying on a table or other flatsurface, because the medicine would not only run out at the rear sideand would not fill the spoon, but the 'bowl would have a tendency toturn over.

Thus it has been necessary to hold the spoon in the hand by the handleand pour the medicine therein from a bottle, and then carry the spoonwith the medicine therein to the mouth of the patient. In such practicethe medicine often runs over the side of the spoon, spilling same, andunless the spoon is kept perfectly level as it is moved to the mouth ofthe patient, it is spilled over the side onto the floor, the bedclothing, the clothing of the person giving the medicine, or on thepatient. It is often the case that so much of the medicine is spilledthat an adequate dosage is not given to the patient.

Furthermore many children resist taking medicine, and the medicine isspilled from the spoon while the dispenser of the medicine is attemptingto subdue the child or persuade him to take the medicine.

Also, when the spoon is placed in the mouth of the child, there is atendency to block the fluid from passing into the mouth by placing theupper lip downwardly uponthe spoon, and in many instances when exhalingthe breath the medicine is blown out of the spoon.

In using such ordinary spoons for giving medicine, it is difficult, ifnot impossible, to adequately measure a teaspoonful or tablespoonful offluid without running some of the medicine over the side of the spoon.

The present invention is intended to solve the foregoing problems andothers, in that it provides a medicine spoon which may be set on a flatsurface so that the bowl thereof is level and there is no tendency forthe spoon to turn over when medicine is poured thereinto. Thereby themedicine may be poured into the spoon as it sets on a flat surfacewithout the danger of running it over or turning the spoon over to spillthe medicine. The spoon also provides a top or cover therefor whichprovides several novel functions.

The cover prevents the medicine from spilling over the side of thespoon, it provides a funnel like recess therein having a passagetherethrough for confining and directing the medicine into the spoon, itprovides a guard to prevent the patient from pressing his upper lip intothe spoon to prevent the dispensing of the medicine therefrom; and thefunnel passage and the dispensing passage through the cover plateprovides a visual means of measuring and indicating when the spoon isfull, in that when the liquid reaches the level of the funnel passage, aspoonful of medicine has been poured into the spoon.

Thus this invention provides a medicine spoon which is maintained in alevel condition when set on a flat surface, and does not have a tendencyto turn over, so that liquid medicine may be poured thereinto withoutholding the spoon. There is further provided a medicine spoon in which avisual indication is given when the spoon is full, and in which medicineis prevented from spilling over the side of the spoon while it is beingcarried to the patient. A funnel is provided as a part thereof forfilling the spoon without wastage of medicine and there is provided apositive means of preventing the patient from pressing his upper lipinto the spoon to prevent the medicine from entering the mouth.

It is, therefore, a primary object of the invention to provide amedicine spoon for dispensing liquid medicine, which may be filledwithout holding it in the hand, and which, when set on a flat surface,is level and does not have a tendency to turn over.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a medicine spoonhaving a cover thereover, having a dispensing opening adjacent the outerend of the spoon, and a filling opening spaced therefrom, and having arecess in the cover adjacent the second named passage to, in effect, actas a funnel to direct the flow of the medicine into the bowl of thespoon.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a medicine spoonhaving a guard or cover thereover which prevents the medicine from beingspilled over the side of the spoon even though the spoon is slightlytilted while being carried to the patient.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a medicine spoonhaving a cover or guard over the top thereof which prevents the patientfrom pressing his lip into the 'bowl of the spoon to prevent the spoonfrom being dispensed into his mouth, and also prevents the patient fromdisplacing the medicine in the spoon with his tongue, or blowing it fromthe bowl of the spoon with his breath.

type hereinbefore indicated, which permits the removal of the top orcover for the cleaning and sterilization of the bowl of the spoon andthe top.

Other and further objects of the invention will become apparent uponreading the detailed specification herein-. after following, and byreferring to the hereto. v

A suitable embodiment of the invention is shown attached drawingwherein:

. FIGURE I is a top plan view of the medicine spoon;

FIGURE I I is a side elevational view thereof; FIGURE DH is a sideelevational view, with the bowl portion of a spoon being sectioned alongthe line IIIIII of FIG. I; and

. FIGURE IV is an end sectional view taken on. th

line IVIV of FIG. III.

Numeral references are employed to designate the vari-' ous parts shownin'the drawings, and like numerals designate like parts throughout thevarious figures of the drawing.

The numeral 1 indicates the bowl of the medicine spoon having a cup-likecavity 2 therein, and terminated at its outer end by a pointed end 3.

A cover 4 is provided over the bowl 1, which cover may be made anintegral part of the bowl 1, or it may be made in separate pieces andjoined with the bowl 1 as an integral part thereof by welding orotherwise, but preferably the cover 4 is a separate part from the bowland is detachably secured thereto by means of pins 5 secured to theopposite edges thereof, and extending downwardly to enter the sockets 6formed in the upper rim of the bowl 1. Preferably the pins 5' are atight in the Patented Sept. 18, 1962 drawings annexed:

pressed fit into the sockets 6, whereby the cover 4 will be retained onthe bowl 1, and a substantial upward force will be required to beapplied to the cover 4 in order to separate it from the bowl 1.

It is preferable that the cover 4 be made separable from the bowl 1 sothat it may be removed periodically for scrubbing, cleaning andsterilizing the inner side of the bowl 1 and the underside of the coverplate 4. Ordinarily it will be a simple matter to clean the inner sideof the bowl 1 and the underside of the plate 4, by simply running hotwater therethrough but inasmuch as some medicines are rather sticky andthick in consistency, it may be desirable and required that the coverplate 4 be removed for cleaning the inside of the spoon.

The cover plate 4 includes a curved, cut-out portion 7 at the outer endthereof, which provides an opening or passage 8 between the cover plate4 and the outer end 3 of the bowl 1. ;T he passage 8 provides adispensing passage for pouring the liquid medicine from the bowl intothe mouth of the patient.

A cup-like recess 9 is provided in the upper surface of the cover plate4 which recess 9 slopes downwardly to a passage 10 providedtherethrough.

When liquid is poured into the recess 9, it runs down the slopingsurface thereof through the passage 10 into the cavity 2 of the bowl 1.It will be noted that the passage 10 is on the same level with the upperedge of the bowl 1 so that when the level of the tfluid reaches thepassage 10 and the passage 8, it is known by visual means that thecavity 2 is full and that a teaspoonful or a tablespoonful of medicinehas been measured into the spoon, as the case may be.

The bottom surface of the bowl 1 is flat as indicated at 11, and theouter end 14 of the handle 13 is straight and coplanar with the flatbottom 11 of bowl 1. By providing the flat bottom 11 and the coplanarsurface 14 on the end of the handle 13, it will be seen that the spoonmay be set on a fiat surface, and the straight, fiat surfaces 11 and 14,cause the cavity 2 of the bowl 1 to be disposed on a level plane, andsuch flat surfaces prevent any tendency of the bowl to tilt or turnover. The gusset or extension -12 extending from the bottom of the bowl1 has a flat surface on the bottom thereof which is a continuation ofthe flat surfaces 11, and provides further stability for the spoon tokeep it from turning over.

By reason of the cooperation between the flat surfaces 11 and 14 and thegusset 12, it will be seen that the spoon can be set on a flat surfaceand filled without the necessity of holding it in the hand. It willfurther be seen that the danger of turning over the spoon while it isbeing filled is reduced to a minimum.

Preferably a pair of recesses or finger engaging notches 15 are providedon each side of the gusset 12 whereby the spoon may be grasped betweenthe fingers and firmly held for carrying from the place where the spoonis filled to the patient.

By reason of the provision of the cover 4 on the spoon, there is notonly provided a funnel-like recess 9 for filling the spoon and a gaugefor determining by visual inspection when the spoon is filled, but itprovides a protective cover to keep the medicine from being sloshed overthe side of the spoon as it is being carried from one place to another,even though the spoon might not be maintained perfectly level incarrying same. The cover 4 also provides a guard to prevent the patientfrom obstructing the flow of the liquid through the passage 8 by hislips, and prevents him from blowing the medicine out of the spoon byrapid exhalation of his breath.

The operation and function of the medicine spoon is as follows:

The medicine spoon may be set upon a table or other flat surface and themedicine poured into the cavity 9 from whence it flows through theopening or passage 10 into the cavity 2 of the bowl 1 until it is filledup to the passages 10 and 8. The spoon may then be picked up by thehandle or by the fingers placed in the recesses 15 and transported tothe patient, without the danger of spilling. The end 3 is then placed inthe mouth of the patient and the spoon is tilted up, pouring medicineout through the passage 8 into the mouth of the patient.

It will thus be seen that we have provided an improvement in a medicinespoon, which provides a means for filling the spoon without danger ofwastage of medicine, which prevents the medicine from spilling over theside of the spoon while filling or while being transported from oneplace to another, which provides a positive means of preventing thepatient from obstructing the flow of the medicine into his month by hisupper lip, and prevents him from blowing the medicine out of the spoonby rapid exhalation of his breath. At the same time it provides such amedicine spoon which is made with a separable cover, so that it may beeasily removed for cleaning and sterilization.

It will be understood that other and further embodiments of theinvention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of theappended claims.

We claim:

1. In a spoon, a bowl; a cover disposed over the bowl having asubstantially cup-like downwardly and inwardly sloping recessed area onthe upper surface thereof; the outer end of the cover being terminatedshort of the outer end of the bowl to provide a passage between the endof the cover and the outer end of the bowl; a passage through the coverat the lowermost point of the recessed area, and a handle attached tothe bowl.

2. The combination called for in claim 1 wherein finger graspingrecesses are provided in opposite sides of the bowl adjacent the handle.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D.90,906 Baker Oct. 24, 1933 620,792 Middleton Mar. 7, 1899 837,506 RaneyDec. 4, 1906 847,942 Hohein Mar. 19, 1907 1,027,976 Beamer May 28, 19122,099,430 Quea Nov. 16, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS 7,763 Great Britain 1902

